We had an unusually large crowd of 37 members and friends attend our January Hot Stove League meeting this past Tuesday where our guests included Chris Sampson and Alyson Footer of the Houston Astros.

The first order of business was for Matt Rejmaniak to preview the DVD he and Bill McCurdy had put together, of the roundtable discussion last December between Monte Irvin and Larry Dierker with Dave Raymond moderating. The 2 hour 2 disc DVD in HD is sensational. Copies can be purchased for $10 be contacting the writer.

Chris Sampson impressed everyone with his very positive "give me the ball" attitude and his competitiveness. His story about facing Albert Pujols for the first time was a classic. Not only is Chris a terrific asset for the Astros but he is giving back to the community by developing and actively participating in the brand new Lonestar Baseball Academy in Baytown.

Alyson Footer made a return visit to SABR and outlined her new duties with the club. She also fielded questions about the recent steroid news, ownership of the Astros and who, in her opinion should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and who should not.

The trivia contest developed by Bill McCurdy, using Monte Irvin's name as a theme was won by Mike McCroskey.

In conjunction with SABR's effort to celebrate SABR Day in America we will have a gathering on Saturday January 30th at Shuckers which is located on the 3rd level of the Houston Galleria starting at 2 pm. Come join us and talk some baseball.

More future chapter activites are listed at the right of this post.

SABR is alive and well in Houston.

Pictures from the December 8th meeting.

Last night's meeting was one for the ages where 45 SABR members and friends were treated to a classic session with baseball legends Monte Irvin and Larry Dierker expounding on their 66 years of professional baseball experience ranging from 1938 to 2004

Interestingly enough Monte's 8 year major league career began at age 30 while Larry's 14 year playing career was winding down at age 31.

No subject was taboo and the topics included advice given to a new Negro League player (learn how to hit a curve and how to duck, they will throw at you), Leo Durocher, cheating - especially in 1951, Cuban baseball and Fidel Castro, the greatest players they saw, hitting tips from Satchell Paige, digging in at home plate, umpires and umpiring, Ewell Blackwell, broken ribs, Willie Mays and Leo's reward system, Monte's signing by the Dodgers and Giants, travel conitions, taking pitchers out of games, Negro League salaries and on and on.

There were also plenty of photo opportunities and autographs available. At the end, no one, including the speakers wanted to leave; it was that kind of night.

Thanks too to Dave Raymond who moderated the meetiing.

For those of you who expressed an interest in Monte's book "Nice Guys Finish First, An Autobiography of Monte Irvin" copies can be ordered through Amazon.com or from R. Plaplinger at baseballbooks@opendoor.com. who provides SABR members a discount.

Our next meeting is scheduled for January 12th at Molly's Pub with speakers Chris Sampson and Alyson Footer.

As a reminder we are still collecting checks for the Annual Baseball Dinnner on January 21st. Please mail your check made out to the Houston Sports Authority at $75 per ticket in a self addressed stamped envelope to 2318 Crimson Valley Ct., Kingwood, TX. The deadline is Dec 29th.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Bob

Tuesday evening 25 members and friends met in our regular monthly session including new member Jim Currie and first time visitor Christy Feliz.

Our guest speaker was Sports Agent Alan Hendricks who discussed his profession in some detail. He said there are approximatey 1,300 certified agents in the US and each year 1,200 new players are drafted. Of that number of players only 3-4% will stay in the majors long enough to qualify for arbitration by being on a major league roster the required 3-4 years. In most cases the players pay no fees until they reach the arbitration plateau so during those early years his firm spends a great deal of time advising young players who may or may not reach their dream.

Alan told us how he got into the agent business and how the Cleveland Indians greatly aided it's expansion. He went through a simulated negotiation, talked about various owners and their delegation authority in player signings, slotting and finally fielded questions on the Players Union and the Comissioner.

Our trivia contest covering baseball stadiums was won by Greg Lucas, followed by Bill McCurdy and Alan Hendricks.

The next 2 months will be very busy for SABR members so please mark your calendars now for some very special upcoming meetings:

Tuesday December 8th. The Board Room, Union Station. 7 PM. A round table discussion with Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, local Houston Astro Icon Larry Dierker and Houston Astros Broadcaster Dave Raymond. This is one meeting you do not want to miss.

Please note the meeting place has changed to Union Station next to Minute Maid Park. Enter the front door of Union Station, turn left, go to the elevator and proceed to the 2nd floor. Parking will be available on Texas and in the Diamond Level Parking Lot.

Tuesday January 12th. Molly's Pub, 7 PM. Speakers will be Houston Astros pitcher Chris Sampson and Astros Executive Alyson Footer.

Saturday January 16th. Texas State University, San Marcos. 10 AM-4 PM. The Rogers Hornsby Chapter SABR meeting. Scheduled guests are Houston Astros Broadcaster Bill Brown and Texas Rangers Hitting Coach Clint Hurdle.

Thursday January 21st. The Annual Baseball Dinner. Hilton America Center Hotel. Reception 6 PM, Dinner 7 PM. Details to follow.

That's all for now.

Bob

Last night 13 members and friends attended our monthly get together at Molly's. Since the AC wasn't working in our regular room we gathered downstairs for a lively baseball discussion.

Our first order of business was to congratulate Harold Jones and Tom Kleinworth for their success in predicting the number of games the Astros would win(74)in 2009. We had 20 entries with guesses from 93 to 68 wins.

We then asked the group who would win the World Series; the Yankees got 10 votes with 1 each for the Angels, Dodgers and Phillies.

Bill McCurdy followed with an excellent presentation on the 1951 Texas League Playoffs with Larry Miggins, a star Houston Buffs player at the time, providing color commentary on the games including his dramatic home runs.

We then turned our attention to being the General Manager for the Astros for a day and Bob Dorrill gave a detailed analysis on the 10 candidates the team plans to interview in the coming week. After much discussion the group gave overwhelming support to Tim Bogar but also indicated that Dave Clark and Phil Garner would be good choices as well.

Umpiring came into focus as the group recollected a series of blown calls in critical games. At the top of the list was Don Denkinger's call at first base during the 1985 World Series, Phil Cuzzi's incorrect foul ball decision in this year's ALDS and Rich Garcia's treatment of a baseball touched by a fan in the 1996 ALDS. Our group STRONGLY supports expanding instant replay to include fair/foul ball decisions.

Our trivia contest was prepared by Mike McCroskey and won by Bill McCurdy.

The next Houston Babies Vintage Baseball game will be played on October 24th at the George Ranch starting at 10:30 am. All our welcome.

For our November 10th meeting we are pleased to advise that nationally known Sports Agent Alan Hendricks has agreed to speak to us. Please make your plans now to attend.